Higher blood omega-3 levels linked to lower risk of death
Mexican adults with the highest levels of non-DHA omega-3 fats had a 20% lower hazard of death than those with the lowest.
Clinical Nutrition ESPEN
In an observational cohort study, researchers analysed data from 144,900 Mexican adults aged 35 years and older. The team measured circulating omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in blood plasma collected between 1998 and 2004, then followed participants until October 2022 to track all-cause mortality.
Higher circulating omega-3 levels were consistently associated with lower mortality. Across the range of measurements, higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and other omega-3 fats were each linked to a lower hazard of death. Participants in the highest fifth of non-DHA omega-3 levels had a 20% lower hazard of death compared with those in the lowest fifth. Although the omega-6 fat linoleic acid was not associated with mortality, total omega-6 and other non-linoleic omega-6 fats were also linked to lower mortality.
Why it matters
Circulating polyunsaturated fatty acids are tied to cardiometabolic health and mortality risk as adults age. These findings provide evidence from an understudied population, highlighting how blood fatty acid profiles relate to survival across diverse genetic and dietary contexts.
Caveats
The observational design cannot determine whether circulating fatty acids directly influenced the risk of death. Blood samples were also measured only once at baseline, so the data do not capture potential changes in fatty acid levels over follow-up.
- Non-DHA omega-3 fatty acids
- Docosahexaenoic acid
- Linoleic acid
- Total omega-6 fatty acids
- Non-LA omega-6 fatty acids
- Humans
The paper
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Jason Westra, Evan De Jong, Paloma Muñoz-Aguirre, Pablo Kuri-Morales, Jesus Alegre-Diaz, Roberto Tapia-Conyer, Jaime Berumen-Campos, Carlos Gonzalez-Carballo, Alberto Zarza,Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán · University of South Dakota
Clinical Nutrition ESPEN · 8 Oct 2026
